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Welcome to this Microwave Transmission Technology Fundamentals course

about frequency regulation and equipment standards.
After the course you will have a basic understanding of the following:
International Spectrum Recommendations and Equipment Standards
applicable to Microwave Systems
The role of National Regulation Authorities
Spectrum Licenses and the License Application Process
Radio Channels
To navigate in the course and jump between pages use the Menu button. The
Audio button allows switching the audio on or off and to read the subtitles. The
help button will give this navigation information in writing. The Notes button gives
access to a personal notes field. Click the replay button to view the animation
again and the play/pause button to start or stop the animation. And finally use the
Back or Next button to go to previous or next page.

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The agenda for the course:

Our first topic is to define why standardization is important in radio
communication.
Then we look at some relevant standardization bodies.
In the chapter Spectrum Standards we will look into how frequency bands are
defined and examples of how to subdivide into channels.
After this we will have a generic look at how to apply for a frequency license and
what is meant by Light Licensing.
The course is then ended by a summary.

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We start by having a look at why standardization is so important.

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The graph shows the electromagnetic spectrum from around 100 kilohertz and up to
approximately 100 gigahertz.
This frequency range is the natural resource available for radio communication.
To make the most of this limited resource it is necessary to regulate and harmonize the use of it.
This regulation cannot be handled by each country alone. Radio signals dont stop at national
borders. Also, agreements about international services are needed. Therefore the harmonization
work is shared between international regulators, or standardization bodies, and national
authorities.
Good examples of this are GSM and UMTS where standardization means that the same mobile
devices can be used in almost every country. Travelers carry and use their own mobile devices
when visiting other countries.
The GSM standardization also gives the user as well as the network operator the possibility to
choose equipment from different manufacturers. Thus, GSM standardization has helped create a
global market for mobile phones and network equipment.
Other examples of where world-wide standardization is essential are air traffic control, ship to
shore and ship to ship communication, WiFi and satellite orbits.
Spectrum management aims to prevent interference between services and interference between
users within the same service.
Interference can occur when two transmitters use the same frequency. They can disturb each
other and both services can become unavailable. Spectrum management assigns frequencies so
that this will not happen, for example by making sure that stations that are close to each other
dont use the same frequency.
Frequency assignments also have to ensure the efficient use of the spectrum.

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So, let us look at which the main standardization bodies are.

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The International Telecommunication Union in Geneva is the United Nations

specialized agency for information and communication technologies.
The subsidiary radio communication sector ITU-R is specialized in global
management of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.
Every three to four years, ITU-R organizes the World Radio communication
Conference. At this conference directions for future use of the radio spectrum are
outlined and decided. Example of this is to assign an additional frequency band to
an existing service or a frequency band for a new service. Participants in the
conference are mainly national frequency authorities and network operators.
ITU-R also issues recommendations in various other Radiocommunication
matters.
The main outcome from the WRC is the Radio Regulations document collection
which is the international treaty that governs the use of the radio spectrum.

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The international Radio Regulations treaty specifies which part of the spectrum is
assigned to fixed services where the stations are not mobile.
The graph gives a summary of the frequency bands which are assigned for
microwave radio links. The ITU-R publishes a recommendation about frequency
range and alternatives for channel subdivision for each frequency band.
ITU-R also publishes other recommendations related to microwave radio links.
Examples are prediction methods for wave propagation and radio link
performance calculations. This is however out of the scope of this course.

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The Electronic Communications Committee, abbreviated ECC, is a European

organization for spectrum management.
It is a part of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications
Administrations, CEPT. As the name of the mother organization indicates ECC
mainly consists of national frequency authorities.
As within ITU-R the work within ECC is organized in work groups. Each work
group concentrates on a specific topic. Of most interest for microwave radio links
is the Spectrum Engineering work group 19, SE19. , This group deals with
spectrum management for fixed services, including microwave radio links. To put
it simply, ECC SE19 specifies how to apply the ITU-R spectrum
recommendations for fixed services in Europe. For example specification of
channel patterns for different channel bandwidths.
Members of the ECC with the right to vote are the European national frequency
regulation authorities and network operators. Equipment manufacturers, like
Ericsson, can participate as observers.

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The shown example is ECC recommendation 05 07.

This is the European specification of how to deploy the frequency band 71 to 76
and 81 to 86 Gigahertz for fixed services. Like all ECC spectrum
recommendations, the document can be downloaded from the ECC web site.

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The European Telecommunications Standards Institute, ETSI, is an European

independent, non-profit organization with the task to produce technical standards
for telecommunication equipment.
ETSI produces European standards and is recognized by the European Union
and national regulatory authorities within the EU. The standards are however
produced to be globally applicable and are recognized also by regulatory
authorities in many non-European countries.
Equipment standards issued by ETSI describe technical characteristics for many
parts of microwave systems, for example for transmitters, receivers and
antennas.

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The ETSI standardization work is organized in technical committees subdivided

into work groups.
Standards for microwave transmission equipment are produced mainly within the
ETSI workgroup Transmission and Multiplexing 4, TM4, which is a part of the
Access, Terminals, Transmission and Multiplexing Committee, ATTM.
Members with voting rights are equipment manufacturers, like Ericsson, and
network operators.

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To allow the usage of microwave transmission equipment, all European and many
non-European national authorities require that the equipment must meet the ETSI
standards.
ETSI standards are published in different series. Here are two examples; EN
302 217 and EN 300 019.
Series EN 302 217 is the main standard for point to point microwave transmission
equipment. It consists currently of six different publications and states technical
specifications for radio equipment and antennas.
Series EN 300 019 is a more generic standard for electronic equipment which
specifies under what environmental conditions the equipment shall be
operational. This is specified for equipment intended for indoor and outdoor use
and in operation, storage and transportation.
ETSI standards are available for download from the ETSI web site, etsi.org.

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There are several additional standardization institutes which are relevant to telecommunications
equipment.
ITU-T, the Telecommunication sector of the ITU, issues recommendations for nearly every
aspect of telecommunication. The given example, ITU-T recommendation G 703, is the
electrical specification for PDH, SDH and Sonet interfaces which are very common in
Microwave equipment.
However, most new microwave deployments are now for Ethernet traffic. Ethernet interfaces
and traffic handling is specified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE (I
triple E). I triple E recommendations 802.3 are examples of standards which are fundamental
for Ethernet technology
Internet Protocols are widely used for management of microwave networks. Protocols and
standards for Internet traffic are specified in so called Request for Comments, RFC, from the
Internet Engineering Task Force, IETF. An example of an IETF standard is the RFC 791 which
is basic for data communication over the Internet.
A perhaps somewhat simplified way to summarize is that ITU-T specifies TDM traffic and
interfaces, IEEE Ethernet Layer 2 interfaces and traffic and the IETF IP Layer 3 Internet
Protocol.
The International Electrotechnical Commission IEC is a standardization body which specifies
equipment building practice and electrical safety requirements.
Requirements for equipment enclosures are for example standardized in recommendation EN
60 950-1.

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Spectrum usage and radio equipment specification requirements are handled by the national
regulatory authority in each country. It has the final decision over the national spectrum usage. The
task is to ensure most efficient use of available spectrum.
Each national regulatory authority can chose to strictly follow the ITU-R or for example ECC
recommendations or to deviate from them. Since national authorities are members of the ITU-R
and ECC such national variations are often included in the recommendations.
On request, the national authorities will give the right to use a specific channel or part of the
spectrum to a network operator or other user. This process is called frequency licensing. To keep
track of the licenses awarded each authority is maintaining a database over the national spectrum
usage. Before a new license is given, the authority will verify that already licensed spectrum users
will not be affected.
Equipment properties are essential for good spectrum economy. For this reason radio equipment
typically has to be technically certified before it is allowed to be put into service. This certification is
referred to as Homologation and is carried out in lab tests by the national authority itself or by an
appointed test institute. The baseline for the Homologation can be national technical specifications
or for example the ETSI equipment standards.
The national authority can also make technical requirements as a condition for granting a
frequency license in order to ensure efficient use of spectrum.
For Microwave transmission, this could mean mandatory use of Automatic Transmitter Power
Control or dual polarization with Cross Polar Interference Canceller.

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In order to separate different transmitters, frequency bands are subdivided into

sections called channels.
In this chapter we will see which main frequency bands there are for microwave
transmission and how they are divided into channels.

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Here we see which frequency bands are currently assigned to fixed microwave.
Remember, this assignment is done by ITU-R and the World
Radiocommunication Conference.
The bands which are indicated by blue color are the traditional bands which have
been in use for long time. They are quite heavily used today. In some countries it
can be hard to find free spectrum for new deployments in these bands.
Because of this, new bands have been assigned. Quite recently the bands 42, 60
and 80 gigahertz were opened by the World Radiocommunication Conference.
The 50, 52 and 55 gigahertz bands are assigned for future microwave
deployments
and the 95 gigahertz band is currently under study by the standardization
bodies for future deployment as well.

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The ITU-R publishes one recommendation document per frequency band.

These recommendations specify high and low band ends as well as channel
arrangement. Alternative channel arrangements, or band limits, which are applied
by other standardization bodies, like ECC, are often referred to in annexes to the
main recommendation.
ITU documents are numbered. The document numbers for the ITU-R channel
arrangement recommendations start with the letter F. The examples shown are
recommendation F 385 for the 7 gigahertz band, F 637 for the 23 gigahertz band
and F 2006 for the 80 gigahertz band.
ITU-R recommendations can be downloaded from the ITU-R website.

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The ITU-R recommends Frequency Division Duplex for most fixed services.
Frequency Division Duplex means that one channel is assigned for
communication in each direction. In this way the system can transmit
simultaneously in both directions. Together these two channels form one channel
pair.
A channel pattern is created by equally dividing the frequency band into a lower
and an upper half band. Each channel pair will consist of one channel in each half
band.
The difference between lower and upper channel center frequency is the same
for all channel pairs within a certain channel pattern. It is called duplex frequency
or duplex distance.
The diagram shows a pattern with five channel pairs.
Channels in the lower half band are labeled f 1 to f 5. Channels in the upper half
band are labeled f prime 1 to f prime 5.
Each channel pattern specifies channel spacing between the center frequencies
of adjacent channels. Channel spacing is always the same in upper and lower
half band.

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This is an example of a channel pattern for the 7 gigahertz band which is taken
from ECC recommendation 02 06. This pattern has five channel pairs.
Lower band end for this pattern is specified to 7425 megahertz, upper band end
to 7725 megahertz and band center to 7575 megahertz.
The channel spacing is 28 megahertz, meaning the centre frequencies of
adjacent channels are 28 megahertz apart.
The duplex frequency in this pattern is 154 megahertz.

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The available bandwidth for each channel is the same as the channel spacing.
This is 28 megahertz in this case. There are no gaps between the channels.
For example channel 2 in lower half band, f 2, occupies the frequency range
between 7456 and 7484 megahertz and in the upper band, f prime 2, between
7614 and 7642 megahertz.
The channel spacings and bandwidths are the same in the lower and upper half
bands of each channel pattern. This way the same amount of bandwidth is
available for the two directions of a radio hop.

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ITU-R, ECC and commonly also national channel patterns specify alternatives for
different channel spacing and thereby different channel bandwidth.
This channel pattern example is from ECC recommendation T R 13 02 for the 23
gigahertz band. It shows how the frequency band can be subdivided into many
channels with narrow bandwidth or just a few wide channels.
So the same band can be used for 168 channels with 3.5 megahertz each or 5
channels of 112 megahertz.
If the band is divided into many narrow channels, many radio link hops can
coexist in the same geographical area without interfering with each other.
If wide channels are used, each hop can transport a higher traffic capacity but at
the same time the number of hops that can coexist without interfering with each
other will be reduced.
It is the task of microwave radio planners at the regulatory authority, or in some
cases at an operator, to find the optimum use of the spectrum while considering
needed traffic capacities and interference.

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Technical evolution has over the years made it possible to make better use of the available spectrum. We will here see
some examples of how this has been achieved.
The first example shows a typical channel usage in an older technology multicarrier system. Such systems could
commonly not isolate adjacent channels well enough from each other. Applying adjacent channels would result in
unacceptably high interference and consequently poor hop performance. The solution to this was to only use every second
channel and to leave the channels in between unused as so called guard channels. From a spectrum efficiency point of
view this was of course not a perfect solution.
Better spectrum efficiency was achieved by the introduction of the configuration Adjacent Channel Alternating Polarization,
ACAP. In this adjacent channels are using different antenna polarization. The extra isolation this gives helped to eliminate
destructive interference between adjacent channels. By this there was no longer need for unused guard channels. ACAP
used to be an attractive solution because it offered double data rate in the same spectrum. At the time this was well worth
the additional costs for a more complex system with two polarizations
ACAP has today lost its spectrum advantage and it is now rarely used in new deployments. The only very rare situation
where it still may have relevance is to avoid channel overlap in systems where for some reason the channel bandwidth is
allowed to be larger than the channel spacing.
When the technical evolution had made it possible to introduce radio equipment with good enough isolation between
adjacent channels the configuration Adjacent Channel Co Polarization, ACCP, was introduced.
Compared to ACAP the spectrum efficiency is still the same. The benefit is that it can now be achieved with a less complex
and less expensive antenna system.
ACCP is today used in cases where spectrum availability is not a limiting factor or where dual polarization is not advisable
because of propagation conditions
With modern equipment the best spectrum economy is achieved by the configuration Co Channel Dual Polarization, CCDP.
Adjacent channels are used and each channel is used in both antenna polarizations. Compared to ACCP and ACAP the
data rate is doubled without using more bandwidth.
The introduction of the signal processing technique Cross Polar Interference Canceller, XPIC, opened for todays wide use
of CCDP. By this technique a CCDP system will have the same hop performance as an ACCP system. And twice the
capacity.
Technical achievements have in these and other ways over the years made it possible to use the spectrum in more efficient

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ways. The evolution will not stop here; it is likely that the future will see new technical
achievements that will further increase the efficient use of the limited natural resource frequency
spectrum.

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Assignment of spectrum is handled by national authorities.

In this chapter we will discuss how to apply for a frequency license.

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The absolute majority of the radio spectrum is regulated. To be allowed to

transmit requires a frequency license from the national frequency regulation
authority. The purpose of regulation is to avoid interference between neighboring
services and users and to ensure best possible use of available spectrum.
Some frequency ranges, typically used for consumer applications, are however
unregulated. Examples are microwave ovens, Wireless LAN, Bluetooth and baby
alarms which all can be operated without applying for a frequency license.
However, this can cause issues when many users access the same spectrum
an effect that is well known to many of us who live in apartment buildings where
every neighbor has his own wireless LAN.

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Frequency bands assigned for microwave radio are with a few exemptions all
regulated and so frequency licenses are required.
Examples of unregulated microwave bands are parts of the 5 gigahertz band and
the lower part of the 60 gigahertz band. Due to the physical propagation
properties the lower part of the 60 gigahertz band can only be used for very short
ranges, typically between close by buildings. Because of the short range it is not
considered necessary to regulate this part of the band.

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So how does the licensing procedure work? Naturally the details are different
between countries but the essentials are these:
An operator who wants to install and use a microwave radio link hands in a
license application to the national frequency authority. The application shall at
least state the location of the two end stations, the intended type of equipment,
and the type of traffic. In some cases the operator can also suggest a frequency
channel.
The frequency authority checks its database for already used channels in the
area and assigns a channel pair that will not harmfully interfere with existing
users. The database is updated with frequency channel, coordinates, and
required equipment properties for the new hop.
The license given to the operator might read like this:
You may use channel pair number 2 according to ITU-R F.637 with vertical
polarization between coordinates x and y for the next 5 years. You have to use
antennas of ETSI Class 3 or higher. You have to use ATPC and may not exceed a
transmit power of 30dBm. You have to pay an annual license fee.
After paying the fee, the Operator can install the radio hop and put it into
operation.

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Frequency licenses can be given on a hop by hop basis, which is the most
common, or as a frequency block allocation to a network operator.
In the hop by hop case the frequency authority specifies which channel shall be
used for each individual hop. The authority analyses the interference between
hops and assigns channels so that all hops work properly. This often requires
taking into account interference between equipment deployed or planned by
competing operator companies. These companies will normally not be prepared
to share information about their networks with each other. So only the authority
has the required information about all hops in an area to say what frequencies
are still free.
In the block allocation case the operator is given a certain spectrum range that it
can freely use within a defined geographical area, for example a city.
The operator is responsible for subdividing the spectrum into channels and to use
it in the optimum way within its network. Separate spectrum licenses for each hop
are not required. The operator can do its own interference analysis because no
other operators are allowed to use the assigned spectrum in the same area.
Authorities tend to prefer hop-by-hop allocation over block allocation since it is
considered to give more efficient spectrum usage.

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Authorities in some countries use a simplified licensing process for some frequency
bands. Propagation conditions in the 80 gigahertz band, for example, allow only limited
ranges, so some authorities have chosen to apply so-called Light Licensing.
Light Licensing is done on a hop by hop basis according to the first come first served
principle..
Here is an overview of the process:
The national regulation authority keeps a publically accessible database of already
installed radio links in Light Licensing bands. The database contains operator name,
used channel pair, location, and equipment properties.
The operator starts by checking the database and hopefully finds a channel pair which
can be used. In the selection process a predefined value for maximum allowed
interference to already installed links is used.
The operator records the data for the new hop into the database and can now install the
new hop and take it into operation. There is no need to wait for an approval from the
authority.
The process has gained large interest among authorities and operators because of its
simplicity. However it is not quite clear yet if this simplified licensing process can
adequately handle spectrum conflicts between users.

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By this we have covered the topics in the course and it is time to summarize.

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We started the course by concluding that frequency regulation is important for

optimum spectrum usage, to allow for world wide services, interoperability
between equipment from different vendors, and to minimize interference between
services and between users of the same service.
Then we looked at what main standardization bodies there are. For spectrum
harmonization we found the world wide organization ITU-R and the European
organization ECC. For equipment standards we found the European organization
ETSI. Furthermore we found that it is the National Frequency Authority in each
country which has the final decision on what details in international
recommendations and standards to apply. Of course this is with the objective to
optimize spectrum usage and service quality.
We studied how the frequency bands are subdivided into channels with different
band width. We defined Frequency Division Duplex, channel spacing, channel
bandwidth and duplex frequency.
After this we studied a generic process for frequency license application and
found that it is the national frequency authority which handles this. We also found
that even though the majority of the radio link spectrum is regulated there are
some frequency bands which are unregulated or can be used after a simplified
licensing process.

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By this the course is ended.

I thank you for your interest and hope you have found it to be useful.

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